Tough mothers show their True Grit

Instead of flowers and breakfast in bed, some Riverland mums spent their Mother's Day weekend climbing ropes, crawling through mud and pushing themselves to complete the True Grit obstacle challenge near Waikerie. The 12km event included 32 obstacles - made with ropes, bridges, cargo nets, sand, fire, mud and water - and attracted 5000 participants. Some of the mums who completed the event have shared their stories.

"I was pretty nervous going to bed Friday night, I woke up about 4am Saturday morning very nervous about what I was getting myself into. When we arrived I was amazed at just how many people were there, I started to get very nervous, I was thinking 'what am I doing, I'm not going to be able to do this', but the other girls kept saying 'come on, we can do this'. I got to about 8km and really hit the struggle mark, there was a really nice volunteer who cheered me on, said I was over half way. I came down one of the hills and all the spectators were standing there cheering us on, and that's when I got my last bit of adrenalin and thought, 'you know what, I've done 11km of this, I'm in my last kilometre and I'm just going to give it my all and make sure I get it finished'. I thought we would get it done in about four hours, and we did it in about two hours, 45 minutes. It was quite busy, so we did have to line up for a few of the obstacles. It was an amazing experience, the hardest thing that I've done in a long time. I have never done a distance like that in my life. I made a New Year's resolution that I was going to get fitter and lose the last bit of my baby weight, I thought that four months of boot camp would be enough, but I was nowhere near fit enough, I struggled the last four kilometres, I had to push pretty hard. As a team, we really supported each other, it was amazing... we were throwing mud at each other, and squirting each other with the hoses at the end. There were people running past you that you had never met before cheering you on, it was amazing."

Sarah Haslett, Murtho mother-of-two

"I was feeling very nervous and worried, particularly about the running side of it... but excited at the same time. There were nine of us in our group and we were doing it just for a challenge and a bit of fun. When we arrived there was a real buzz, there were groups of people dressed up. We kept together as a group, so whenever we got to an obstacle, we would bunch together. Everyone ran to their own fitness and ability levels but we all did the obstacles together. For me the most challenging obstacle was a rope, hung over a creek and you had to hang upside down on it and pull yourself along. There was about 200 metres of pure mud that you had to wade and swim through, so you definitely got wet and muddy. At the end was a slip and slide into the river and the cold water was good because my legs were really sore. Everyone was really encouraging, not just for our own team but for others as well. It was a beautiful event for camaraderie and fun and everyone getting out and having a go at their own ability level. There were a few macho guys there who ran around with their tops off, but there were lots of people who were just there for the challenge and fun, it really did cater for all ages, stages and fitness levels. We were approached by a group of friends to do it and we thought,' why not, what better thing could there be to do on Mother's Day?'."

Jayne Wishart, Berri mother-of-four

"We all went down together and were chatting together in the car on a real high. When we arrived there were lots of good looking bodies, lots of fit people... it had a real hype to it for sure. We had to walk past some of the obstacles at the start and we were checking them out. The first obstacle was a cargo net on a frame and the next one, about 200 metres on, was another cargo net but without a frame so it got harder. There was a man-made creek that you had to cross on a rope, that was definitely one of the hardest, you had to cross with your hands and ankles, but that gave me some rope burn behind my knees. If you let go you would fall in the creek. There was a big run through the grape vines and it was starting to get warm, you had to weave under the vines, then there were sand dunes, we had to carry a log for a bit, and there was one that caught me by surprise, it was rows of fire that you had to jump over and there was the CFS standing there to put you out if you caught alight! Everyone worked together, I felt it was definitely tough but I was pretty determined, I just wanted to get through it and finish it. I was pretty tired at the end, and yesterday, Sunday, I was tired and sore. I like to challenge myself, I've always wanted to do a Tough Mudder. I would do it again in a heartbeat, once I knew it was Mother's Day weekend, I actually considered it my Mother's Day present, to have a day out with other girls."

Karyn Burton, Berri mother

"I didn't sleep real well, because I had never done one before and I was excited. I train pretty hard anyway just for my fitness, I run about four times a week for an hour each, and mix it up with some sprints. I do a long run on Saturday and also go to the gym. I had heard about Tough Mudder and I was keen to do one, so when True Grit came to Waikerie it was a perfect opportunity. When we arrived, we couldn't believe the number of cars that were parked there, it was exciting, I was ready to get going. We were checking out the people who had already done it, who were soaking wet, covered in mud, we were getting a bit nervous watching them all coming in, they were straggling in and the looks on their faces... we did wonder what we were in for. The first few obstacles there was a bit of a bottle neck, but once we got through those first couple, the whole field spread out. People ran it, some walked it, everyone did it at their own level. Probably for me the toughest obstacle was one of the cargo net ones which was a bit wobbly. I think part of the attraction was that as long as you finished it, you finished it, it didn't matter if you ran it or walked parts of it."

Tracy Whateley, Barmera mother-of-three

"I didn't know what to expect, I was excited but nervous at the same time. I was a bit anxious but I've always wanted to do something like that. When we arrived there were people everywhere, we arrived at about 9am and there were buses and cars everywhere. We had to wait about an hour, so we watched others leaving. I had a bit of an idea about the types of obstacles, I did a bit of training, a bit of cardio and running. I don't have a lot of upper body strength, but if you want to do it you'll do it, you battle on and find the strength from somewhere. For me going up and down the sand dunes was the toughest for me, running through the sand was tough. We came to a wall that we had to go over and everyone was helping each other, it was such a great atmosphere. I would recommend anyone to do it, there was a real mix of men, women, younger people, older people... it was really good."